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Intel warning sparks chip rout as PC weakness clouds turnaround

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In short

The chipmaker issued a disappointing fourth-quarter revenue target of $15 billion to $16 billion, lagging behind Wall Street expectations of $17.07 billion. Finance chief David Zinsner confirmed that the company does not anticipate generating positive cash flow this year amid substantial manufacturing expenditures. Meanwhile, soaring memory prices driven by AI capacity shifts are elevating overall PC production costs and depressing consumer appetite. Consequently, sequential sales in the critical PC chip division are projected to tumble over 20 percent this quarter.

Key points

  • The prolonged downturn in the personal computer segment could persist through the first h…: The prolonged downturn in the personal computer segment could persist through the first half of 2027.
  • Elevated memory prices caused by artificial intelligence capacity shifts are raising comp…: Elevated memory prices caused by artificial intelligence capacity shifts are raising computer production costs and dampening demand.
  • Heavy capital expenditures on manufacturing expansion and AI are preventing Intel from ac…: Heavy capital expenditures on manufacturing expansion and AI are preventing Intel from achieving positive cash flow this year.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Oct 30 : Intel's shares slumped 25 per cent in premarket trading after the chipmaker forecast a bleak quarter and warned of persistent weakness in the personal computer market through at least the first half of 2027, sparking a selloff in global chip stocks.

The decline puts the US chipmaker, which forecast fourth-quarter revenue and profit below Wall Street expectations, on track to lose more than $123 billion in market value and open at its lowest level in about six months if losses hold through the regular trading session.

The forecast underscores the challenges facing CEO Lip-Bu Tan's turnaround effort, with Intel still grappling with a prolonged PC market slump even as it invests heavily in AI and manufacturing expansion.

Semiconductor stocks, including Advanced Micro Devices, Arm Holdings, Qualcomm, Nvidia, Broadcom and Micron, fell between 2 per cent and 9 per cent in premarket trading.

The STOXX Europe 600 Technology Index was down 2.1 per cent, with sector heavyweight ASML shedding 5.2 per cent. US-listed shares of the world's largest contract chipmaker, TSMC, were down 3.5 per cent.

Intel expects…

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